Motormeter lock



Patented Feb. 16, 1926.

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PATENT oFFicE.

ALBERT J. nnss, or SPRINGFIELD, oi-iio.

Moroni/Iman Loox.

Application fiiea March 27, 1925i. seriai No. 18,834.

T0 ZZ whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, ALBERT J. Huss, a citizen of the United Stat-es,residing at Springlield, in the county of Clark and State of Ohio, haveinvented certain newand usef ful Improvements in Motoiineter Locks, ofwhich the following is a. specihcation.

rIhis invention has for its object the pro vision of means whereby aiiiotorineter will be secured in a radiator cap so that it will beguarded against loss :and against siii'i'eptitious removal.'lheinvention seeks to provide a simple but efficient mechanism where'-by the operation of the motoiiineter and the placing and displacing ofthe radiator cap will be premitted but separationv of thezmotorin'etertrom the cap will be prevented eX cept through manipulation' by anauthorized person. These objects, and other objects whicliwillincidentallyappear in the course of the following description, areattained in suc-h a device as is illust'ated in the accompanyingdrawiiig,and the invention resides in certain novelfeatures which willbe particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawing: y

Figure 1 is a sectional elevation showing my invention applied toan'iotorn'neter;V 4

Fig. 2 is a vertical section on the line 2,--2 ofFig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1, :and

Fig. e is a horizontal section on the line LA of Fig. 2. y

The motormeter 1 is of the usual construction having a stem orhollowbody 2 inserted through the cap 3 of the radiator 4. In applyingmy invention to the motorineter, the nut 5, whereby the motorn'ieter issecuredpin the radiator cap, is first removed and atyoke 6 is thenvfitted over the stein or body 2, the nut 5 being then retitted soastoclainp Vthe yoke against. the under sido of the radiator up. '.lheyoke 6 is somewhat longer than the stein or body ot the iiiotoinieter sothat it will depend below the saine when in place, as shown in Fig. 1,and upoii the lower end ot the yoke is hung a sleeve 7 having an eye Sat its upper end to engage upon the yoke, and providedwitli alongitudinal slot 9 in its lower portion, the lower eiidof the sleevebeing open for a purpose which will presently appear/ The slee-ve isalso providedexternally between its ends with an annular recess ..10adapted to. receive the tumbler rings 12 which encircle .tl'ie sleeveand have anv external diameter equal to the maximum external diameter ofthe sleeve whereby the outer surfaces of the tumblers and the sleeveswill lie flush when the parts are assembled, as clearly shown in Figs. 1and 2. Through the inner circumference of each tumbler ring is formed alongitudinally extending notch 13 which, when the tui'nblers areproperly set, registers with the slot 9 in the sleeve. locking rod 114has its upper smooth end iitted within the borexof the slee-ve 7, an'dupjon the upper smooth end ofthis lrod are lugs 15 which are adapted tolit withinthe grooves or spaces defined by the opposed inclined orbeveled faces 1l of adjacent tunibler rings, as shown in Fig. 2. Theselugs 15 arevtapered outwardly to conform to the ltapero'f the acesll ofthe rings and they are also disposeed in alinement longitudinally or'the locking rod whereby they may lpass through the slot 9 in the sleevewhen the` parts are being assembled, and when the partsare asembled thespaces between adja cent lugs will each receive the inner edge orperipheral apex of one of the rings, as clearly shown in Fig. 2i. Itwill be understood,

of course, that the lugs may be connect-ed so as to form a continuo-usrib having notches in its outeredge. l y y Upon referring to Fig. `2, itwill be noted that the vertical cross sectional outline oi a tumblerring is a truncated triangle presenting a fla-t inner extremity to bearagainst the intermediate reduced portion of the sleeve or verticalwallof the recess 10,. faces diverging outwardly froinsaid extermity toengage opposite edges of the respective tapered lugs, and basal sidefaces extending radially outward from the `diverging'g face-s to bearagainst corresponding portions of adjacent rings or the ends of therecess in the sleeve. 'By this construction, the outer ciroumferencesofthe rings and the sleeve will be maintained iii hush relation.

The lower portion of the locking rod ist threaded, as shown at 16, andis adapted to pass through the upper end of the anchor 17 and theexpander 18. The anchor 17 consists ot plurality of arms 1f) havingtlieirends oi'itturiied, :is shown at 20, and

vcoi'iiiected at their upper ends by a central neck 21 thro-ugh whichthe locking rod passes and which isconstructed with notches 22 toreceive lugs 23 formed on the' lower end oit they sleeve dTwherebyrelative turning of the `s'leei'fe or' the anchor will'be prevented. The

expander 18 consists of a substantially conical body over which the arms19 extend and having a projection 24 upon its outer surface to passbetween any twoo-f the arms and by its engagement with one of the armsprevent rotation of the expander relative to the arms. rlhe threaded)ortion ofthe locking rod 14 passes througn and engages the threadedbore of the apex 25 of the pander, as clearly shown in Fig. 2.

Upon the outer surfacel of the 'several tumbler rings 12 are displayedin any convenient manner numbers, letters or other characters, indicatedat 26, Iand graduations 27 are also formed or displayed iipon the ringsadjacent the respective characters and in alinement therewith..` Similarcharacters 28 are formed upon the sleeve 7 immediately adjacent thelowest ring 12, as shown in Fig. 1. The notch 13 in 'each tumbler ring12is disposed in radial alinement with one of the characters 26 upon theexternal'surlace of the ring so that it has a fixed position in the ringand the combination of' the lock may be varied by changii'ig the rings,as will be readily understood. In the manufacture ot the device, thesleeve is litted -with tumbler rings lset to a certain combination yofthe letters, numerals or other characters dis,- played upon theouterfsurfaees of therinfis. The anchor and the expander are iitted uponthe locking; rod with the arinso'ix the anchor close together so thatthey may be inserted -throught-he 4filling nipple of the radiator andclear the same. The head 29, which 'is formed on the locking rodimmediately at the upper extremity of the threaded portion thereof,isthen turned so that rotation will be imparted to the rod and by itsthreaded engagement with the expander. 4will cause the expander to rideupwardly inasmuch as rotation of the expander will be prevented by theengagement of the projection 24 against one of the arms. .Y As a resultof the movement of the expander upwardly upon the locking rod, the arms19 of the anchor will be bent outwardly so that their 'extremities willproject beyond the walls of the filling nipple ot the radiator and,consequently, any. attempt to withdraw the vdevice from the radiatorwill then be resisted by the engagement oi"- the extremity 20 againstthe innersnii'ace of the radiator. top. The tumbler rings are then setto the combination of tbe lock in which position the notches 13 inv allthe rings will be in longitudinal alinement and adapted to register withthe lugs 15 upon the rod 14. The sleeve, with vthe tumbler ringsthereon, is then placed over the upper end of the locking rod and pushedhome so ythat the end ofthe sleeve and the end ofY the neck21 will abut.The

rings are then shifted sothat the notches therein will be carried out ofalineinent with the @spes/five lugs" 1 5 and il??r 111e? Will la@engaged between opposedtapered surfaces of adjacent rings, the devicebeing thus set so that the mot-ormeter cannot be separated from theradiator cap. Vhile I have shown. and described the lock as beingsecured in place by the nut on the motormeter body clamping thesuspending yoke to the radi ato-r cap, it will be understood that theyoke ma be otherwise secured to the motormeter bo y, as by riveting orlike means. From the foregoing description, taken 1n connecL tion withthe accompanying drawing,a 1t will be seen that I have providedaverysim; ple device which will prevent theft. of the motormeter lwithoutinterfering with the temporary removal of the radiator cap when lillingor' the radiator is necessary and also permitting the removal of themotormetei for thepurp'ose of repairs lfthe person making the repairskno-ws the combination controlling theseveral tumbler rings. g Havingthus described the invention, I ciaim l.

'motormeter lock comprising a yoke to be secured to the body ot' themotorineter, a sleeve suspended upon the yoke, an anchoring memberincluding a locking rod engageable' within the sleeve, and permutaA tionelements carried Aby the sleeve and enlgageable with said locking rod-.j

' 2. A motormeter .lock comprising a sus: pending member 'to be `securedto the motor meter body, .a sleeve carried by said sus'- 'pendingmember,A an anchor engageable with the lower end of the sleeve andincluding ka plurality of expansible elements, a locking rod engageablewithin the sleeve,

andan Yexpander carried by said locking' rod and opeiablether'eby toexpand vthe elements of the anchor. y.

3. A motormeter lock comprising sus; pending element to be secured tothe body of the motormeter, a sleeve hung upon said element, a lockingrodengageable within the sleeve, an anchor fitted to the lower end ofthe sleeve and including. a plurality of e'xpansiblev arms, a conicalexpander mounted upon the locking rod Within the arms and havinganvexternal projection to engage against one of the arms wherebyrotation of the locking rod will effect expansion ofA the anchor arms,and means carried by the-sleeve to lock the rod therein.

d. A motormeter lock comprising a suspending element to be secured tothe motorijneter body, a sleeve carried by the said element, a lockingrod engageable within the sleeve and provided with a longitudinal seriesof lugs, an anchoring member carried by the'lower portion of the lockingi'od, and a plu ality of tumbler rings mounted upon the sleeve andengageable between the lugs -uponjthe locking rod and providedinternally with notches to engage said lug igt] iiiotornieterlckcomprising a ,s uspending element to be secured to the lnotorneter bodya sleeve hung on said element and provided with a' plurality or'external annular' grooves and with an internal longitudinal groove, alooking rod engageable within the sleeve and provided with alongitudinal series of spaced lugs adapted to engage the longitudinalinternal groove of the sleeve with the spaces between the lugs in thesame transverse plane as the external grooves of the sleeves, ananchoring member carried by the lower portion of the looking rod, and aplurality of tumbler rings hat# ing internal annular ribs engaging theannular' grooves in the sleeve and between the lugs on the looking` rod,said rings each having a radial internalrnotoh to engage the lugs on thelooking rod.

In testimony whereof I affix iny signature.

ALBERT J. HESS. [L s]

